"How to make Space Marine Drop Pods"

by Mike Adams
22 Nov 2005
www.smallbattles.co.uk

Miniatures © Games Workshop Ltd. 2003-2005. Models painted by Mike Adams.

This construction project is a personal hobby project based on the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property of Games Workshop Ltd. The project is completely unofficial and not endorsed by Games Workshop. Trademarks of Games Workshop Ltd. used without permission. No challenge to their status is intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

This article, including the photographs contained within, is copyright 2005 of the author, Mike Adams. The article may be printed and/or stored for personal use only, but may not be distributed or re-published in any form without written permission from the author.

• Introduction
• Materials And Equipment
• Templates
• Stage 1: Cut Out The Pieces!
• Stage 2: Build The Main Structure
• Stage 3: Add Interior Detail
• Stage 4: Add Upper Side Walls And Hide Foamboard Edges
• Stage 5: Add The Buttresses
• Stage 6: Add Exterior Detail
• Stage 7: Build The Access Ramps
• Stage 8: Paint!
• Stage 9: Detail Painting

This is a set of instructions for scratch-building a Space Marine Drop Pod of my own design, intended for use with Warhammer 40,000 Space Marines armies. The most recent version of Codex Space Marines introduced new, very cool rules for Drop Pods, but (at the time of writing) Games Workshop do not actually make any model kits for these. Forge World, a specialist branch of Games Workshop, do produce a Drop Pod in resin, but this is a very expensive model and if you need two in your army (which is quite likely), then the cost is prohibitive. Therefore most gamers have no choice but to build their own from scratch. This article will show you how, for very little cost.

The design of the Drop Pod is my own, based on two sources in particular: 1. The Forge World Drop Pod; 2. The pre-fabricated Battle Bunkers as seen in some of the photos in Codex Space Marines. The Forge World model is very nice, but suffers from two drawbacks. Firstly it is too complex a shape to build simply and secondly it is clearly not big enough to carry a full squad of Space Marines. It was designed to carry only a 5-man squad. The Dreadnought version is a simpler shape, but still too complex. The Battle Bunkers are closer to what I imagine the Drop Pods should look like. So I have come up with a design that takes elements from both, is simple to make from foamboard and is big enough to carry either a Dreadnought, 5-man Terminator squad or 10-man Tactical Squad. Somewhere on my website should be a photo that shows how a Space Marine Dreadnought fits neatly inside.

You will need the following materials and equipment:

• 5mm thick foamboard
• Plastic & metal “bits” from the “Bits Box” (spare parts left over from model kits)
• Spare plastic Storm Bolters and turret rings, 1 per Drop Pod (from vehicle accessory sprues)
• Anything with a grille-type ‘texture’ - I used spare pieces of window blind
• Thin card
• Filler (optional)
• Cutting mat (highly recommended)
• Scalpel / sharp knife
• Tweezers
• Pen & paper
• 12” / 30cm ruler
• Scissors
• PVA glue / white glue
• Superglue (cyanoacrylate)
• Miniature files (recommended)
• Grey emulsion paint
• Model paints (black, white, yellow, brown, etc.), acrylics highly recommended
• Paintbrushes & water
• Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine waterslide transfers

Foamboard is a sandwich of card and dense polystyrene. You might know it by another name, e.g. foamcore or polyboard. I think it is designed for commercial model building, e.g. architectural models. It’s a great material to use as the basis of any building project. It can be obtained in sheets from art and hobby shops. I already had a piece in the house which was large enough, and in fact I never purchased anything specifically for this project when I built my two Drop Pods. All the materials and equipment I already had.

The specific “bits” which I found useful were: fuel cylinders, boxes, panels, etc. from Imperial Guard and Space Marine vehicles. If you are a Warhammer 40,000 modeller you will probably recognise the bits from the photos. I also used some plastic rod for rivets, plastic Imperial eagles and most importantly of all, a couple of spare Storm Bolters from vehicle accessory sprues.

You will need a copy of the design drawing, from which create the nine different templates illustrated in the photo below. I have labelled these ‘A’ through ‘I’ for later reference.

Use the templates to cut out the pieces of foamboard for the main structure. See the photo below. You will need two of template ‘A’ (front wall and back wall), two of template ‘E’ (side wall), one of template ‘B’ (floor) and one of the middle rectangle from template ‘B’ (roof).

To cut foamboard, use a ruler and a scalpel. Be careful to cut on a cutting mat to protect the surface of your table! And be careful handling the scalpel. If it’s sharp, the foamboard will cut quite easily.

Also cut out the door apertures in the main walls (from template ‘A’). The pieces cut out will be the access ramps, so don’t discard them. See the photo below.

Now glue the main pieces together, using PVA glue. You should end up with something like in the photo below.

It was at this stage that I decided to add just a little bit of interior detail. The inside will hardly be visible, so don’t go mad. But just a couple of items makes a big difference. I chose suitable bits from the “Bits Box” (what do you mean, you don’t have a Bits Box?) and glued them on, using Superglue. See the photo below. Superglue is best for gluing small items which are dissimilar, e.g. card to plastic or plastic to metal. Be very careful not to get any glue on your skin, because this glue sticks skin better than anything, and does it very quickly. If you do get your fingers stuck together, never try to just pull them apart. Prise them apart very gently, or seek assistance. By the way, I use miniature files to file down mould lines on plastic and metal components.

Now cut out the upper side walls from thin card (not foamboard) and glue these in place. You will need two, one for each side. I don’t have a template for these, but it’s easy enough (and most reliable) to measure the size of rectangle you need straight off the model.

One slight drawback of foamboard is that you are left with rough edges from cutting. These should be covered with either filler or thin card. I used card on some edges and filler on others. With hindsight, I would recommend using thin card for all. The effect is superior and it’s less messy.

To use card to edge the exposed foamboard, simply cut 5mm wide strips to the right size and glue them on with PVA glue.

The photo below illustrates the upper side walls and card edge strips.

If you do use filler, add a drop of dark acrylic paint (e.g. black) to the filler. This will make it grey in colour rather than white, which is better if the filler is ever chipped in the final model. See the photo below (note this photo was taken from later on in the construction).

One of the sexy features of this design (well, IMHO!) is the external buttresses, which give the Drop Pod its characteristic “I am a Drop Pod” shape. Cut these out of foamboard using template ‘I’. You will need four of them. Now glue these on with PVA glue. See the photo below.

Cut out the hexagonal piece in foamboard from template ‘D’ and glue this to the top of the model. See the photo below.

Now the basic construction is complete, it is time to start adding the external detail. The photo below illustrates detailing on one side. Repeat this for the other side. Note that when you choose what “bits” to add, make sure you have two of each! My side detailing consisted of the following:

• Add the upper panel, cut using template ’F’ from thin card
• Add the side door, cut using template ’C’ from thin card. Note the side door has a bend in it. Score a line with the ruler and scalpel so that the card will bend easily.
• On top of the upper panel, I glued (using Superglue, because of dissimilar materials) a plastic panel with a window slit which was spare from old Space Marine tank kits
• On top of the side door, I glued a small hatch, again spare from vehicle kits
• At the base of the side door, I created two hinges. These were cut from cocktail sticks, but you could use plastic rod or any type of cylindrical material of the right diameter.
• To the right of the door I glued a couple of pieces of thin card for arbitary detailing. These are meant to represent door controls.
• To the left of the door I created a grille using a piece of window blind, which just happened to have the right texture, and a border cut from thin card.

The photo below illustrates the detailing on the front of the Drop Pod. Repeat for the back. My detailing consisted of the following:

• Add a border around the door aperture, cut using template ’G’ from thin card
• Add small rectangular strengthening pieces to the bottom left and bottom right
• Add small square strengthening pieces as shown. Note these bend around the corner onto the side walls. Score the card with a ruler and scalpel to enable it to bend.
• Add chunky rivets to the strengthening pieces, as shown. The rivets were cut from a piece of plastic rod (e.g. a spare model shovel). Try and cut them so they are the same thickness. Glue them on using a drop of Superglue for each. You will need tweezers to pick them up and place them.
• Add a plastic Imperial eagle over the door.

The photo below illustrates the detailing on the side buttresses. I did the following:

• Using template ‘H’, cut the small rectangular shapes (with a rectangular hole cut in the middle) from thin card and glue around the buttresses. You will need four of these, one per buttress. See the photo. Note the way the shape is bent around the buttress.
• Add rivets to the tops of the buttresses (on both sides). Note in this case I wanted smaller rivets and I decided to cut these off a spare piece of plastic (from the vehicle accessory sprues again!) which had rivets modelled onto it. These are very small so you will need patience and fine tweezers!

The photo below illustrates the detailing on the roof of the Drop Pod. My detailing was as follows:

• I glued a spare turret/cupola ring and Storm Bolter to the top of the hexagon piece
• I glued a couple of random piece of thin card in the corners for arbitary detailing, and glued an interesting couple of plastic piece on top.

Hmm, something missing… Ah yes, the access ramps. I added grille ‘texture’ to these, using pieces of window blind that just happened to have a good texture. To these I added strips of thin card, as illustrated below.

Construction is now finished! Your model should look something like in the photo below (the one on the left). Note the ramps have just been placed for the photo, they are not glued in place.

A word about ramps: I decided to glue mine to the model, but after all the painting was finished. With hindsight, it would have been better to design the ramps so that they could either be removed or hinged upwards. The reason is that you will find the model larger than it needs to be for transport. It is quite hard to find a box big enough - the ramps stick out and get in the way. One possibility would be to glue some brass rode into the ramps where they should pivot, and make a hole for these in the main frame. Then the ramps could be swung upwards for transport. That’s a bit advanced for me, but good luck if you try it.

Now just slap on the grey emulsion paint with a biggish brush. See the photos below.

Now carefully “dry brush” the entire model in a very pale grey, nearly white. The brush shown in the photos is perfect for this. I used Ghostly Grey from the Citadel paint range. See the photo below.

Now paint the details and apply some evocative waterslide transfers, e.g. Imperial eagles and gothic numbers. I painted details like the black and yellow chevrons and the Storm Bolter first, then when they were dry I thinned down some brown and black paint and carefully painted streaks and burn marks. These are meant to represent the scorching of the exterior as the Drop Pod enters the atmosphere from space. See the photos below.

The grilles of the access ramps I painted with a thin, brown wash, then when that was completely dry I dry-brushed them with light grey and/or white. See the photo below.

After all the painting is finished and dry, you might want to give the model a spray of matt varnish to protect it. Or maybe not, I’m not sure. I didn’t bother. So now you are…FINISHED!! Now pose your new model with some miniatures, feel satisfied with yourself and plan your next campaign!

Article and photographs copyright © 2005 Mike Adams. All rights reserved.
The author can be contacted through the website www.smallbattles.co.uk